Illustration: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering illustration
You create original illustrations for clients, working from their brief in a style that fits the project. Your value is distinct artwork, a clear sketch stage and files the client can use across print and web.
What customers ask
- Can you draw in the style I like?
- Will I see a sketch before the final art?
- What rights do I get for the art?
- Can you keep a character the same in several images?
- Will you give me the source file?
How to win the job
- On the first call, ask for the purpose of the image, the places it will appear, the size, the style references and the deadline, then confirm them in writing.
- Show two or three style samples from your own work that fit the brief, and ask the client to choose one before you start.
- Send a rough sketch before the finished drawing, and limit the sketch rounds in the quote.
- Keep a model sheet for any recurring character, with the proportions, the colors and the key poses, so later pieces match.
- Deliver the layered source file, the print file and the web file, each named by its use.
- State the usage rights in the quote, including the uses and the period, and ask the client to confirm them.
What to put on your profile
- Post a portfolio grouped by style and use, such as editorial, children's, product or brand illustration.
- List the media you work in, such as digital painting, ink or vector.
- Describe your sketch and revision process in plain steps.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- Offer a set of spot illustrations for the client's next articles or posts.
- Suggest a character guide when the client plans a longer campaign.
- Recommend a usage review if the client plans to use the art on new products.
Licenses and permits
Illustration is usually not licensed. Keep your business registration current, and check your state or local rules for any registration your work requires; keep the usage rights in writing for every commission.
Questions
Do I need a degree to be an illustrator?
Usually not. Clients look for a strong portfolio, a clear process and references from past work.
What if a client wants a style that copies another artist?
Decline in writing. Offer to create original work in a related look, and do not reproduce the other artist's work or signature style.
How do I protect my artwork online?
Post low resolution previews with a watermark, keep your source files private and keep records of your commissions and their usage terms.
Pro reviewers
Pros who offer illustration remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
More design and marketing guides for pros
Start here
About this guide
Get illustration requests
Customers pick you by name. Signup is free, and you pay only for leads you accept.
Join as a pro